Whole30 Food Roundup: Week 1

DAY 1

Yesterday was DAY 1 of our Whole30! I mentioned on Instagram Stories that I would try to do either a Vlog or Blog Posts to show what we're eating and what I shop for during The Whole30. {Tom is doing it with me, so we'll see how that goes. Hahah!} I am doing this just to reset and hopefully help my sugar addiction. I don't have a scale, so I won't be watching that, but you can always tell when clothes fit differently. I'm also hoping that cutting out sugar and dairy will help with the breakouts I've been having, but I'm not going into it with too high of expectations! I'm also nursing, so I need to really focus on having enough calories and drinking a lot of water to keep up my milk supply. I'm doing it for fun and for a challenge! Instead of seeing it as something really hard with so many limitations, I have been trying to see it for it's possibilities! I love getting in the kitchen and trying to be creative and explore with food, and now that I'm not pregnant and can actually eat without puking everything up, it seems like a great thing to do!:) Haha!

SO, here was our first day of Whole30 Food roundup!

Breakfast:

We had a little get together with cousins since Christmas Break is almost over. We had a Whole30-style buffet with Sweet potatoes, ground turkey, hash browns, and eggs with spinach and peppers. We were going to have bacon, but picked up the wrong kind and it wasn't Whole30 compliant, so we didn't cook it.

Lunch:

I made this super easy Lemon Pepper Chicken with Mashed Sweet Potatoes. I cook without a recipe probably 90% of the time, so I'm going to try to write them down as we go. I didn't start cooking until we were married, so I'm NO pro, but I have really come to like and even love it! There are a few cookbooks that I really like, which I'll have to share sometime, but so many times I find myself in the kitchen without a plan and throw things in the pan! Hahaha. There is also a Whole30 Cookbook that I will try to cook out of this time! Also, if you haven't read the book, "It Starts With Food," it's pretty helpful if you're doing or deciding on whether to do The Whole30! I read it a couple of years ago when we did it first, but I should probably do a refresher!

Steps for the Potatoes:

I washed and peeled several sweet potatoes and put them in my Instant Pot {I have the 8 quart!} with a little bit of water and set the manual time to 12 minutes. When the came out, I dumped all the potatoes in my Kitchen Aid Mixer until blended and smooth. {I've had my mixer for 7 years, and it's still like new! They're also on sale right now for $199.} I only added salt to taste and they were still deeeelicious! But I love sweet potatoes! They will be a common theme during this Whole30!

Steps for the Chicken:

I put Avocado Oil in the pan, let it get hot and then placed two chicken breasts in it. I seasoned them with salt and pepper {this time I put more pepper because I wanted some spice.} Then, I flipped them over and seasoned the other side. {Be careful because the oil is hot, so don't lift it all the way out, just kind of roll it over if you can.} Then, I cut a lemon into slices and put them on top of the chicken. I waited until it was cooking through and turned it over again with the lemons now underneath the chicken {touching the pan} and covered it with a lid.

Since the chicken breasts were pretty big, they had a harder time hitting temperature, so I cut them into 4 or 5 pieces {I usually don't cut on a nonstick pan because it ruins them, but was careful not to touch the bottom,} and covered it again. Once they were almost to temperature, I covered everything in baby spinach and put the lid back on. When the spinach was done, I put them on a plate with the mashed sweet potatoes and voila! Lunch is served.<3

Dinner:

We got babysitters and went out with our cousins for dinner. Since we had a later lunch and I wasn't sure if there was anything compliant on the menu, I waited until we got home to eat, where I had smoked salmon and leftover mashed sweet potatoes. I had a migraine through dinner and afterwards, so I also took a Tylenol because MAN, those first few days of no sugar can be rough town! Hahaha! If you are doing this, I wish you luck and good tasting food!<3

XO

Sarah

Day 2

Brunch:

Sweet potato hash with spinach and egg. I just shredded the sweet potatoes and then made them into a patty in the pan. I started with a metal pan and ended up starting over on a nonstick!:) Then, once it was assembled on the plate, I added Franks Red Hot Sauce!

Snacks:

Baked Banana chips, Whole Banana, leftover mashed sweet potatoes, hard boiled egg, smoked salmon.

Dinner:

I still had some tri-tip steak in the fridge that I needed to use, so I sliced it and cooked it in the pan just with salt and pepper {and it was SO YUMMY. I have a tendency to overcook meat because I'm a germaphobe, but it was really medium and so tender! I like to buy the kind at Costco, it's usually about $30 for a package.} Then I put it over a plain preprepared kale salad and added straight balsamic vinegar for the dressing. It was actually really good for how easy it all was!

Day 3

Breakfast:

I decided to use the same pan for everything, and cooked eggs first in some Avocado oil, then added spinach. Seasoned the spinach and then moved it to the side and added cauliflower rice, a little bit more avocado oil and more salt and pepper!

Dinner:

We went to the Temple with some friends, and everyone decided to go to Cubby's afterwards. I ordered the citrus salad with tri-tip steak and no dressing. Basically, it was a bucket of Kale, but the fruit in it gave it some juice. And I was so hungry, I scarfed it down so quickly! Haha! I still had a headache {probably from cutting out sugar,} but eating helped a bit.

\]=\

Snacks:

Throughout the day, I mostly had bananas in between meals since I need to go back to the store! I also had water with lemons and limes to drink.

Day 4:

Breakfast:

Scrambled Eggs with Spinach and Smoked Salmon.

Lunch:

Five Guys! There IS a way to make this compliant! I got the burger wrapped in a lettuce, green peppers, pickles, jalapeños, and hot sauce {not ketchup!}

Costco Run:

Dinner:

Green beans, leftover chicken, and avocado.

Day 5:

Breakfast:

Scrambled eggs with spinach. Side of blackberries and grapes, side of avocado. {The kids wanted seconds--love this simple but yummy and filling breakfast!}

Lunch/Dinner:

Chicken, brussels sprouts, cauliflower rice, and a side of compliant apple sauce.

Snacks:

Compliant coconut water {Usually I would just do water, but I'm nursing a baby and have felt a little dip in supply, so thought some electrolytes would be nice.} I also had applesauce and more avocado halves.


Day 6:

Breakfast:
Fruit. {You're not really supposed to have fruit as a main source of a meal, but I wasn't feeling great with a cold. I made up for it with lunch!

Lunch:

Spinach, Chicken, Smoked Salmon, Avocado, Grapes, Blackberries, Balsamic Vinegar, and then a Broiled Grapefruit with Cinnamon and a side of Bone Broth with salt and pepper added.

Dinner:

 I wasn't feeling super great, so my hubby did dinner! He made Tilapia cooked in avocado oil, and then a side of sautéed spinach and avocado. Such a good man!